The Arts

Powerful forms of expression that recognise, value, and contribute to
the unique bicultural and multicultural character of Aotearoa New Zealand,
enriching the lives of all New Zealanders. (NZC pg 20)

Our
Beliefs about The Arts:

In The Arts our children will develop and communicate a range of skills
and creative works through movement, sound and image.

Dance is expressive movement that has intent,
purpose and form. Children integrate
thinking, moving, and feeling.

Drama expresses human experience through
a focus on role, action, and tension, played out in time and space.

Music is sound from natural, acoustic, and
digital environments is the source material for expressive ideas in music.

Visual Art is through engaging in the visual arts,
children learn how to discern, participate in, and celebrate their own and
others’ visual worlds.

The Arts Programme

Our Arts
curriculum reflects the school values and the principles, key competencies,
knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the New Zealand Curriculum.

At
least two visiting professional performance groups are invited to the
school each year to support and enhance the arts programme and provide a wide
range of models who have high artistic standards

Learning
within each arts discipline is approached through the four interrelated
learning strands. ( Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Art). The children’s ideas are generated and refined through cycles
of action and reflection. By building and revisiting learning from previous
levels, art programmes in each discipline provide progressions of learning
opportunities in all four strands. This spiral process ensures that students’
learning is relevant, in-depth and meaningful.

Programmes
will build on students’ learning strengths and particular needs

Provide
programmes that reflect, through Maori contexts, the bi-cultural character of
New Zealand

Provide
programmes that reflect the multicultural nature of New Zealand society, and
acknowledge the artistic and cultural contributions of different ethnic groups

Use
teaching approaches that provide learning opportunities for all students to
experience individual and group activities in the arts.

Integrate,
where appropriate, the arts with other essential learning areas in order to
enhance and extend learning experiences.